Portable oscillating propeller assembly



Oct. 30, 1951 c, BANNISTER 2,573,382

PORTABLE DSCILLATING PROPELLER ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 10, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet l CVyQ'e EYBarmAster Inventor 3 40M 1951 c. E. BANNISTER PORTABLE OSCILLATING PROPELLER ASSEMBLY 4 Sheets-Sheet '2 Filed Jan. 10, 1948 FIG. IA

INVENTOR. CLYDE E. BANNISTER ATTORN EY Oct. 30, 1951 c. E. BANNISTER PORTABLE OSCILLATING PROFELLER ASSEMBLY 4 Shecs-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 10, 1948 U/yoe E Bannzlster r Inventor I y 40% na- LA J ftorney IIIIIIIIIIII Patented Oct. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PORTABLE OSCILLATING PROPELLER ASSEMBLY Clyde E. Bannister, Houston, Tex. Application January 10, 1948, Serial No. 1,530

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to portable oscillating propeller assemblies for driving water-craft and for analogous uses.

One of its chief objects is to provide an assembly adapted for efficiency in utilization of power by reason of its fins, or impeller elements, acting against water that is not already in motion in the fins own direction of movement, as occurs in the swirl that is set up and maintained by a screw-propeller constantly rotated in the same direction.-

I provide for oscillating movement of the fin, so that in each half-cycle of oscillation the fin acts against water that has been previously set in motion in the opposite direction about the fins oscillation axis. As the effective reaction of the water for driving the boat or the like is dependent upon the relative velocity of the fin and the water against which it acts, there is a factor of increased efficiency in the oscillation of the fin as compared with one-way rotation.

Other objects are to provide a propeller assembly adapted for quick and easy reversal of its direction of drive, and to provide simple, compact and inexpensive reversing mechanism.

Another object is to provide an assembly adapted for use as propelling means on watercraft normally having pressure-fiuid-supplying means aboard or readily available, as in the case of dredging barges, having pumps.

I attain this object by employing a fluidactuated motor for driving the propeller, and thus make unnecessary the use of tugs for moving the barges. I

Another object is to provide, for a barge, for

example, a plurality of propulsion means mount ed at different respective positions on the barge so that the barge can be variously handled by means of the several propulsion means, independently of a rudder, as in turning it about Without substantial movement of translation, or in moving it in sidewise to a wharf, pier or the like.

A further object is to provide, preferably at a corner of a barge, for example, propelling means adapted to urge the adjacent part of the craft in any direction throughout a wide range of directions, the embodiment here shown, for example, being adapted to exert a driving force in any direction throughout two opposite quadrants of the directional circle.

Another object is to provide propulsion means which can operate at a side or at an end of the craft and yet can be readily gotten out of the way to permit such side or end of the craft to be snugged up to a wharf or pier.

More specific objects will be manifest in the following description.

Of' the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary plan view of a corner portion of a barge or the like and a propeller assembly mounted thereon, illustrating my invention in its preferred form as applied to one of its important uses.

Fig. 1A is a fragmentary side elevation of the same, from the right of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section, with a part broken away, of a permissible type of oscillating fin and its immediate mounting.

Fig. 3 is a corresponding cross-section of a preferred type of fin and its immediate mountmg.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal, horizontal, middle sec-- tion, with parts 'broken away, of the propeller fins and parts near to them, including parts of the reversing mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary face view, at the position of the arrows 5, 5, in Fig. 1, of latching parts of the reversing mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a side view, partly in section, of an alternative type of propeller.

Fig. 7 is a section on line |-1 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a section on line 88 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a side view, with parts broken away and sectioned, of another alternative type of propeller.

Referring to Fig. 1, the assembly there shown comprises a barge l6 having hinged on the deck thereof at II, on a vertical axis, a horizontal beam l2 projecting beyond the side of the barge and at its outer end secured to the upper end of a. vertical beam l3 which has mounted on its lower end, below the surface of the water, a driving assembly comprising a fluid-actuated motor M of the shaft-oscillating type, a transverse bar 15 rotatably but not slidably extending through a hole in a shaft-head formed on the motor shaft, and a pair of impeller fins I6, I 6 mounted on the respective arms of the bar [5, each at a considerable radius from the axis of the motor shaft. The motor I4 is provided with a hose M for supplying it with motive fiuid.

Suitable motors are shown in my U. S. Reissue Patent No. 19,397 and in my U. S. Patents Nos. 1,965,564; 2,016,067; and 2,254,641.

For purpose of illustration the oscillating motor I l here shown is of the type described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,254,641, comprising a main-motor fluid abutment W, a main-motor piston-vane I l and a valve-reversing auxiliary motor comprising a fluid-abutment M and a piston vane M The fins can be rigid and of metal, as shown in Fig. 2, in which case each fin is mounted on the arm l5 with provision for oscillatory lostmotion, preferably as there shown.

The construction as described is such that as the motor shaft is oscillated the lost-motion, mounting of each fin upon the arm I5 permits the. fin to lag at the beginning of each half cycle of the oscillation of the bar about the axis of the motor shaft and thus the fin assumes and is held in an attitude oblique to its direction of arcuate movement, so that it has a suitable angle of attack for action as a propeller fin throughout the rest of the half-cycle, for transmitting.

a propelling force to the barge through the beam [2.

The two fins, because of being stopped at the ends of their lost-motion movement with relation to the bar, respectively urge the bar l5 in opposite rotative directions about its own axis, and thus their torque forces upon the bar, about the bars own axis, substantially counterbalance each other. 7

As the beam I2 is adapted to be held in different positions about its vertical axis I I, throughout a range of 90", by a pin l'l engageable selectively in holes [8, [B in an arcuate ratchet plate 19 secured on the deck, and as the propeller assembly is reversible, it can be employed for imparting a driving force to the adjacent part of the barge in any direction throughout two opposite quadrants in the directional circle.

Propulsion force in the other two quadrants of the circle can be had by mounting a like assembly at an adjacent corner of the barge.

The alternative type of fin shown in Fig. 3, instead of having lost-motion connection to the bar I5, is mounted with its base in fixed relation to the bar and has flexibility in its vane the like, with stiffness progressively higher toward its base by reason of graduated thickness and permissibly also by reason of graduated reinforcement provided by stepped layers of fabric 20.

For easy mounting and dismounting and secure anchorage the cylindrical base portion of the fin can have secured thereon a brass shell 2| having outwardly curved margins Zia, 2m extending with a tight fit through a longitudinal slot in the Wall of the hollow bar l5. The margins 21a thus serve to prevent rotation of the fins base portion in the bar and by reason of their outward curvature they serve as rollingcontact stops for the adjacent surfaces of the flexible vane portion of the fin and thus prevent excessively localized fiexure and early breakdown of the fin at that position.

The reversal of the direction of drive is effected by rotating the bar I5 on its own axis, permissibly while it continues to be oscillated about the axis of the motor shaft, to bring the fins to the positions between the bar l5 and the motor, as illustrated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 4, and holding it in that rotative position about its own axis While it continues to be oscillated, by the motor, about the axis of the motor shaft.

The reversing mechanism is best shown in Fig. 4. The bar (5 rotatably mounted in a bearing hole extending through a head formed on the hollow, water venting motor shaft 22, is held against endwise movement therein by a collar 23 and a bevel gear 24 pinned to the bar.

The gear 24 is meshed with bevel gear teeth 25 formed on the adjacent end of a sleeve 25 which is rotatably mounted, with anti-friction bearings 26, 25, upon the motor shaft. Mounted in the wall of the sleeve 25 at diametrically opposite positions are spring-backed detents 21, 21 having rounded inner ends adapted to enter respective dimples formed in the outer face of the motor shaft 22, for holding the sleeve and shaft against relative rotation, under moderate forces, but adapted to be unseated from the dimples, to permit half-circle relative rotation of the two, when they are subjected to a greater rotative force.

The sleeve 25 can be prevented from having endwise play on the motor shaft by a bolt 28 screwed through the wall of the sleeve and having its inner end portion stepped down to provide a retaining stud slidably occupying a circumferential groove 29 formed in the outer face of the motor shaft.

At its end nearest the motor 14 the sleeve 24 has formed in its annular end face two diametrically opposite cam-latch notches 30, 30 adapted to receive respective cam-latch dogs 3!, 3i projecting from the adjacent annular end of a preferably annular stopping-clutch member 32 slidably but non-rotatably mounted in a preferably annular guide-bracket 33 projecting from the casing or shell of the motor.

Fulcrumed at 34 in a slotted bearing ear projecting from the bracket 33 is a lever 35 having its inner end extending into a recess formed in the outer face of the clutch member 32. Interposed between its outer arm and a bracket 36 secured to the motor shell is'a compression spring 3'! constantly urging the clutch member 32 away from engaged position.

For momentarily urging it in the opposite direction and thus stopping the oscillation of the gear sleeve 25, a pull cable 38, opposed to the spring 31, extends from the outer arm of the lever 35, past suitable guide pulleys, to the deck of the barge, Fig. 1, where its end is secured to the beam l2 by a cable clamp 39.

This construction is such that when the stopclutch member 32 and the gear sleeve 25 are free of each other, the sleeve 25 and the gear 24, without relative rotation, oscillate as a unit with the motor shaft and fin bar l5, about the motor shafts axis.

When it is desired to reverse the direction of drive, by rotating the fin bar I5 through on its own axis, the cable 38 is pulled and held taut to urge the stop-clutch member 32 toward the gear sleeve 25.

The annular end face of the oscillating gear sleeve 25 rides upon the outer end faces of the dogs 31 throughout leftward movement of the gear sleeve 25 as illustrated in Fig. 5, the pull on the cable not being so strong as to cause the oblique cam faces of the tWo members to stay engaged and thus stop the gear sleeve against the force of the detents 27 in their dimples.

In the next half-cycle, however, and preferably at the beginning of it, as can be provided for by having a motor-shaft oscillation amplitude of 180 and suitable positioning of the detents and latching dogs, the dogs 30 enter the respective notches 30 with and their non-oblique faces stop the rightward movement of the gear sleeve 25 as viewed in Fig. 5. As the motor shaft finishes that half-cycle of oscillation the gear 24 is compelled to travel 180 on the toothed end of the gear-sleeve 25, and as the two are of the same pitch diameter this rotates the gear 24 and the fin bar [5 on their own axis, transverse to that of the motor shaft, thus bringing the fins to their dotted line, reverse-drive positions.

Continued oscillation of the motor shaft then impels the assembly in reverse-drive direction.

When the 180 rotation of the fin bar on its own axis has been completed and the sleeve 25 starts to be urged in the opposite direction, leftward in Fig. 5, that situation is manifested to the operator by a motorward pull of the cable as the oblique faces of the cam-latch members coact.

At that time the detents 21 have re-engaged, in exchanged dimples, or, if the motor-shafts half cycle is more than 180, the dimples, having slightly over-run the detents, are in position to be reentered by the detents promptly after the reversal of rotation of the motor shaft.

Renewal of forward drive is effected in the same manner, with a 180 rotation of the fin bar on its own axis in the same direction as that in which it was rotated for reverse drive.

The invention a thus far described, including the reverse-drive feature, is applicable to either an oscillating propeller shaft or a one-way rotating propeller shaft, but it is only in the case of the oscillating propeller shaft, here shown as a motor shaft, that the fins have the advantage of moving, in the swirl, in the direction opposite to that of the water against which they act.

The flexible-vane propeller, however, illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6 to 9, has, in both cases, the advantages of not being easily broken, of automatically assuming a desirable shape, under the force of the water, for efiicient operation, and of low cost.

The propeller shown in Figs. 6 to 8 comprises a single resiliently deformable fin 40 secured in rearward axial extension of an oscillating, or of a rotating, shaft 4|.

In rotation, or in each half-cycle of oscillation, it assumes, under the resisting force of the water against which it acts, the screw-propeller shape in which it is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7.

The propeller shown in Fig. 9 is substantially like that shown in Figs. 6 to 8 except that it is wide at its base as well as at its rear end, for large impact area, is stiffened at its base by being mold-vulcanized upon a transverse metal bar 42 and, interlocked therewith, a shaft-head 43 adapting it for ready attachment to and removal from an oscillatory or a rotary shaft 44.

Various other modifications are possible without departure from the scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

In the appended claims the support is the beam structure comprising the horizontal beam I2 and the vertical beam I3; the shaft is the motor-shaft 22; the journal mounting for the shaft is the casing of the motor 14; the means for driving the shaft is the piston-vane l4 of the motor; the bar as defined is the member IS; the "impellers are the members l6, l6, Fig. 1; and of the reversing means the turning means is the gear 24, the holding means is the gear-and-clutch member 25 and its springbacked detents 21, 21, and the fulcrum member is the stopping-clutch member 32.

I claim:

1. A propulsion unit including a support and a propeller assembly supported thereby, said propeller assembly comprising a shaft, a journal mounting therefor, means for driving said shaft in rotative movement, a bar transverse to and mounted on the shaft for rotative movement on its own axis transverse to that of the shaft, said bar having two arms projecting oppositely from the shaft, an impeller mounted on each of said arms for actuation by rotative movement of said bar with said shaft, and reversing means for turning said bar through 180 degrees on its own axis in relation to the shaft, for reversing the direction of the propulsive force of the impellers, said reversing means comprising turning means fixedly secured on said bar, means for holding said turning means in fixed relation to said shaft with said turning means selectively in either of its two operative positions degrees apart about the axis of said bar, and control means operable during rotative movement of said shaft for rendering the said holding means ineffective and causing rotative movement of the shaft to effect a 180 degree rotation of said bar about its own axis and for then reestablishing effectiveness of said holding means in its new relative position, said control means comprising a fulcrum member nonrotatable in relation to the said journal mounting and engageable with a part of said holding means for preventing rotation of the holding means in relation to the journal mounting and disengageable therefrom to permit said holding means to have rotative movement with said shaft.

2. An assembly as defined in claim 1 in which the recited turning means is a driven gear fixedly secured upon the recited bar, the recited holding means comprises a driving gear meshed with said driven gear, and th recited control means comprises means for compelling the said driving gear to rotate with the recited shaft and, alternatively, preventing it from so rotating.

3. An assembly as defined in claim 1 in which the recited turning means is a driven gear fixedly secured upon the recited bar, the recited holding means comprises a driving gear meshed with said driven gear and mating spring-detent means on the driving gear and the shaft for latching the driving gear to the shaft but disengageable by forcible relative rotation of the driving gear and the shaft, and the recited control means comprises means for stopping the said driving gear during rotation of the shaft and thus disengaging said spring-detent means, effecting a 180 degree rotation of the recited bar on its own axis in relation to the shaft, and effecting re-engagement of said spring detent means with the bar in its new rotative position in relation to the shaft.

4. An assembly as defined in claim 1 in which the impellers are fins and the means for driving the shaft is a shaft-oscillating motor.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the recited support comprises a beam and vertical pivot means in the beam remote from the unit for pivotally supporting the beam and unit whereby the unit may swing about a vertical axis.

6. The combination of the assembly as claimed in claim 5 with a barge wherein the pivot means is mounted adjacent a corner of the barge whereby the unit may swing around said corner to each side adjacent thereto.

CLYDE E. BANNISTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 815,738 Prosser Mar. 20, 1906 923,407 Clawson June 11, 1909 2,178,555 Briggs Nov. 7, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,182 Sweden May 8, 1897 62,963 Sweden May 10, 1927 26,279 Great Britain Nov. 15, 1912 368,039 France Sept. 24, 1906 491,662 Germany Feb. 14, 1930 

